Table of Contents

Julie Payette's Journal

L-5 days Johnson Space Center,
Houston TX - Monday, June 8, 2009 -
6:00 p.m.

I only have a few minutes to write in the journal. We are on our way to the airport to catch our flight to Florida.

We've just completed our last launch simulation. Our instructors kept a last series of launch and ascent runs for the very end to ensure our reflexes are honed and ready for the real event. We did four different launch scenarios. As usual, we had to face all sorts of simulated failures during the first three. But the fourth simulation was a completely normal ascent. This is a gift from the instructors to the crew - their way of wishing us good luck and bon voyage. As we sat in the cockpit, my colleagues and I couldn't help being surprised. None of us could remember the last time we experienced a (simulated) launch without an alarm going off...